Endoprosthesis coating

ABSTRACT

An endoprosthesis, e.g., a stent (e.g., a drug eluting stent), that includes a porous surface and hollow elements integrated with a coating on the surface and a method of making the same are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/073,647, filed on Jun. 18, 2008, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to coating endoprostheses.

BACKGROUND

The body includes various passageways including blood vessels such as arteries, and other body lumens. These passageways sometimes become occluded or weakened. For example, they can be occluded by a tumor, restricted by plaque, or weakened by an aneurysm. When this occurs, the passageway can be reopened or reinforced, or even replaced, with a medical endoprosthesis. An endoprosthesis is an artificial implant that is typically placed in a passageway or lumen in the body. Many endoprostheses are tubular members, examples of which include stents, stent-grafts, and covered stents.

Many endoprostheses be delivered inside the body by a catheter. Typically the catheter supports a reduced-size or compacted form of the endoprosthesis as it is transported to a desired site in the body, for example the site of weakening or occlusion in a body lumen. Upon reaching the desired site the endoprosthesis is installed so that it can contact the walls of the lumen. Stent delivery is further discussed in Heath, U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,721, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

One method of installation involves expanding the endoprosthesis. The expansion mechanism used to install the endoprosthesis may include forcing it to expand radially. For example, the expansion can be achieved with a catheter that carries a balloon in conjunction with a balloon-expandable endoprosthesis reduced in size relative to its final form in the body. The balloon is inflated to deform and/or expand the endoprosthesis in order to fix it at a predetermined position in contact with the lumen wall. The balloon can then be deflated, and the catheter withdrawn.

It is sometimes desirable for an endoprosthesis to contain a therapeutic agent, or drug which can elute into the body fluid in a predetermined manner once the endoprosthesis is implanted.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the disclosure features an endoprosthesis, e.g., a stent (e.g., a drug eluting stent), that includes a surface having a porous structure of a first material and a coating of a second material. The second material defines a plurality of hollow elements.

In some implementations, the hollow elements and the coating are made of non-polymeric material, for example, a ceramic material, a metal, an alloy, or a mixture thereof.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. The endoprosthesis has a body formed of the first material. The first material is a metal. The metal is stainless steel, nitinol, tungsten, tantalum, rhenium, iridium, silver, gold, bismuth, platinum or alloys thereof. The second material is a ceramic material. The ceramic material is silicon oxide, titanium oxide, iridium oxide or a mixture thereof. The coating and hollow elements have a porous structure. The porous structure comprises a plurality of pores having a width of about 0.5 nm to about 500 nm. The coating and hollow elements have a thickness of about 1 nm to about 1 μm. The hollow elements contain a drug. The porous structure of the first material includes a plurality of pores having a width and a depth of about 1 nm to about 25 μm. The surface has a porosity of about 90% or less (e.g., about 80%, about 70%, about 60%, about 50% or less). The hollow elements are hollow spheres. The hollow spheres have an outer diameter of about 10 nm to about 5 μm. The hollow spheres have an inner diameter of about 1 nm to about 5 μm.

In another aspect, the disclosure features a method of making an endoprosthesis that includes applying a sacrificial template to a surface, applying a ceramic precursor over the template, treating the precursor to form a ceramic deposit, and removing the sacrificial template to form a hollow ceramic region.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. The ceramic precursor includes a metal oxide precursor. The metal oxide precursor is tetraethylorthosilicate, titanium isopropoxide, or iridium acetylacetonate. The sacrificial template is removed by calcination or chemical removal. A plurality of pores are formed on a surface where the pores have a width and a depth of about 1 nm to about 25 μm. The pores of the spheres and ceramic are formed by calcination or chemical removal. The structure of the substrate is formed by a plasma treatment. A polyelectrolyte layer is applied before applying the sacrificial template. A polyelectrolyte layer is applied after applying the sacrificial template. One or more polyelectrolyte layers could be applied to the porous surface. The sacrificial template is applied to the polyelectrolyte layers. The sacrificial template is applied to the porous surface. One or more polyelectrolyte layers are applied to the sacrificial template. The sacrificial template is pretreated with a polyelectrolyte to be encapsulated by a polyelectrolyte coating. The polyelectrolyte layers are applied by LBL deposition. The sacrificial template is a sphere. The sacrificial template is a polymer particle. The polymer particle has a size of about 10 nm to about 10 μm. A sol-gel ceramic precursor is applied to the polyelectrolyte layers and the template. The sol-gel precursor reacts to form a ceramic gel deposit. The ceramic gel deposit is converted to an oxide or ceramic (e.g. by hydrolysis and condensation reactions). The polyelectrolyte layers and template are removed by heating or chemical etching. A drug is provided in the hollow ceramic region. The drug is loaded to the endoprosthesis after the coating is formed. The drug is loaded to the endoprosthesis before the coating is formed.

Aspects and/or implementations may have one or more of the following additional advantages. The endoprosthesis, e.g., a drug eluting stent, can include a large number of porous hollow elements embedded in and/or on its porous surface to facilitate drug elution. For example, metallic materials are mechanically stable but often lack porosity or drug-loading capacity while ceramic materials are porous but lack sufficient mechanical strength. A composition of a pretreated metal surface with hollow ceramic elements to contain drugs can have both sufficient mechanical strength and drug-loading capacity (e.g. porosity). The wall thickness of hollow elements can be independently controlled to be thin enough to resist cracking, flaking or peeling from the underlying metal surface. The porosity of a drug eluting stent, can be controlled, e.g., increased, by embedding the hollow elements having porous walls without compromising mechanical strength of the stent. The enhanced porosity facilitates drug loading. The drug elution profile over time can be selected by controlling the porosity of the metal and/or the properties of the hollow elements. For example, hollow elements made of the same material with thicker walls will release drugs at slower rate than the ones with thinner walls. Thus, introducing hollow elements with different size, different wall thickness, wall composition, or a geometry allows building a variety of drug release profiles. Further, the drug load can be easily varied by controlling the number of hollow elements put in the stent. Additionally, pore size can be changed by altering salt, additives (i.e., glucose) and pH in the PEM layers. The endoprostheses may be fully endothelialized, and thus not need to be removed from a lumen after implantation.

Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1C are longitudinal cross-sectional views, illustrating delivery of a stent in a collapsed state, expansion of the stent, and the deployment of the stent in a body lumen.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an implementation of a stent; FIG. 2B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the surface of the stent; FIG. 2C is another schematic cross-sectional view of the surface; and FIG. 2D is a schematic cross-sectional view of a drug-containing hollow sphere.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart and illustration of an implementation of a method of making a stent.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a plasma immersion ion implantation (“PIII”) system.

FIGS. 5A-5C are FESEM pictures of some implementations of the disclosure.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1A-1C, during implantation of a stent 10, the stent is placed over a balloon 12 carried near a distal end of a catheter 14, and is directed through a lumen 15 (FIG. 1A) until the portion carrying the balloon and stent reaches the region of an occlusion 18. The stent is then radially expanded by inflating balloon 12 and compressed against the vessel wall with the result that occlusion 18 is compressed, and the vessel wall surrounding it undergoes a radial expansion (FIG. 1B). The pressure is then released from the balloon and the catheter is withdrawn from the vessel (FIG. 1C), leaving the stent 10 fixed within lumen 15. The stent can be balloon expandable, as illustrated above, or a self-expanding stent. Examples of stents are described in Heath '721, supra.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2D, stent 10 is configured to include a releasable drug and to release the drug in a controlled and predetermined manner once it is implanted. Referring to FIG. 2A, the stent 10 is a generally tubular member including a plurality of fenestrations 22. The stent body 23 is made of a first material 120, e.g., a metal, and has a surface 140. Referring to FIG. 2B, a schematic cross-sectional view of the surface 140, the surface is porous or corrugated. Referring to FIG. 2C, a schematic cross-sectional view of the surface, the surface 140 is further coated with a second material 180, e.g., a ceramic material, and includes drug-containing hollow spheres 160 made of the second material 180. Referring to FIG. 2D, a schematic cross-sectional views of a drug-containing hollow sphere, the hollow sphere 160 includes a wall 240 having pores 260 connecting the interior 220 and the exterior 200 of the sphere 160. The interior 220 is a cavity containing a drug. The drug from the interior 220 of the spheres passes through the pores 260 into the porous space of surface 140 and then into body.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2B and 2C, in some implementations, the first material 120 is a substantially pure metallic element, or an alloy (e.g., 316L stainless steel). The porous region of the surface 140 not only increases the effective area of the surface but also provides a more confined area to which the hollow spheres 160 can be attached, protecting the spheres from being dislodged during handling, delivery and deployment of the stent. In implementations, cross-sectional size or width of the pores 170 is large compared to the sphere size; in implementations, the width and depth of the pores provide a secondary control of drug release by diffusion of the drug through the pores 170 once the drug comes out of the hollow spheres 160. In other implementations, the pores are sized such that they provide a minor or no role in diffusion-limiting the drug release to body fluid or tissue. In implementations, the pore depth, L_(d), is in the range of about 1 nanometer (“nm”) to 250 micrometers (“microns” or “μm”), e.g., about 100 nm to 1 μm; the pore width, L_(w), is in the range of about 1 nm to 25 μm, e.g., about 500 nm to 1 μm. In implementations, the ratio of the volume of pores to the total volume of the surface region, or porosity of the surface 140 is about 90% or less (e.g., about 80%, about 70%, about 60%, about 50% or less). Alternatively or additionally, the inward surface 150 of stent body 23 can also have a porous structure. In some implementations, the porous surface 140 is formed by plasma treatment, such as plasma immersion ion implantation (“PIII”) as is described in details below.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2C and 2D, in some implementations, the second material 180 and hollow spheres are a ceramic material (e.g., SiOx, or IrOx). The outer diameter of the hollow spheres 160 is preferably smaller than or comparable to the pore dimensions (width and depth) of the porous region of surface 140. For example, the outer diameter, D_(o), is about 10 nm to 5 μm, e.g., 100 nm to 1 μm. The inner diameter, D_(i), of the hollow spheres 160 ranges from about 1 nm to 5 μm, e.g., 20 nm to 500 nm. Thickness, D_(t), of the sphere wall 240 can range from 1 nm to 1 μm, e.g., 10 nm to 500 nm and it may or may not be uniform along the radial axes. In implementations, the wall 240 has a porous structure. In preferred implementations, wall 240 has an open-cell porous structure, so that the pores 260 in wall 240 are interconnected and serve as passageways between the interior and the exterior of the hollow spheres 160. The width of pores 260, I_(w), varies from about 0.5 nm to 500 nm, e.g., 1 nm to 100 nm. In implementations, the second material coating 180 has substantially the same porous structure as the sphere wall 240 described above, and thickness of the coating 180 varies from about 1 nm to 2 μm, e.g., 10 nm to 1500 nm. A particular ceramic is IROX, which can have therapeutic benefits such as enhancing endothelialization. IROX and other ceramics are discussed further in Alt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,566. Suitable ceramics also include metal oxides, oxides and transition metal oxides (e.g. oxides of titanium, zirconium, halnium, tantalum, molybdenum, tungsten, thenium, and iridium; silicon; silicon-based ceramics, such as those containing silicon nitrides, silicon carbides and silicon oxides (sometimes referred to as glass ceramics); calcium phosphate ceramics (e.g. hydroxyapatite); carbon and carbon-based, ceramic-like materials such as carbon nitrides. In implementations, the second material and sphere are provided through a sol-gel reaction assisted with the use of spherical sacrificial templates (described below).

Referring to FIG. 3, a method 300 of making and coating porous surface 140 is described and illustrated. The left side of this figure provides a flow diagram of processing steps and the right side provides a cross-sectional schematic of a region of the stent at the corresponding processing steps. The method 300 includes forming a porous surface (step 302), applying a polyelectrolyte layer (step 304), applying sacrificial templates, e.g., templating polystyrene spheres (step 306), applying another polyelectrolyte layer (step 308), forming ceramic deposit within each polyelectrolyte layer (step 310), removing polyelectrolyte layers and sacrificial templates to form a porous ceramic coating integrated with hollow ceramic spheres which have porous walls and cavities on surface 140 (step 312), and loading the cavities with a therapeutic agent or drug (step 314). In some implementations, one or more polyelectrolyte layers are applied to the surface 140 and/ or sacrificial templates, and the thickness of the polyelectrolyte layers influence the final thickness of the ceramic coating.

In step 302, the porous structure of surface 140 can be formed by plasma treatment, chemical etching, or electrochemical processes. In some implementations, plasma immersion ion implantation (“PIII”) is applied. During PIII, one or more charged species in a plasma, such as an argon plasma, are accelerated at high velocity toward a substrate, e.g., a stent or a stent precursor (“pre-stent”) such as a metal tube. Acceleration of the charged species, e.g., particles, of the plasma towards the pre-stent is driven by a pulsed electrical potential difference between the plasma and the pre-stent. Alternatively, the electrical potential difference can be applied between the plasma and an electrode that is underneath the pre-stent such that the pre-stent is in a line-of-sight. Upon impact with the outward surface and/or inward surface of the pre-stent, the charged species, due to their high velocity, penetrate a distance into the stent, interact with the first material, e.g., displace atoms and/or knock atoms out of the first material and form porous structures in the surface. The penetration depth is being controlled, at least in part, by the potential difference between the plasma and the stent. Other factors such as dose-rate, process temperature, and ion type can be selected to control the porous structure of the surface. An implementation of PIII system is described further below.

In steps 304, 306, and 308, after the porous surface is formed, charged layers containing polyelectrolytes and sacrificial templates are assembled upon the surface, using a layer-by-layer (“LBL”) technique in which the layers electrostatically self-assemble. In the LBL technique, a first layer having a first net surface charge is deposited on an underlying substrate, followed by a second layer having a second net surface charge that is opposite in sign to the net surface charge of the first layer. Thus, the charge on the outer layer is reversed upon deposition of each sequential layer. Additional first and second layers can then be alternatingly deposited on the substrate to build multi-layered structure to a predetermined or targeted thickness. For example, in steps 304 and 308, deposited layers 141 and 143 can either be a polyelectrolyte monolayer or polyelectrolyte multilayers (“PEM”) with thickness ranging from 0.3 nm to 1 μm, e.g., 1 nm to 500 nm. In an intermediate layer between 141 and 143, charged sacrificial templates 142, e.g., polystyrene spheres, polymethylmethacrylate (“PMMA”), or silica templates , with net surface charges opposite in sign to those of layers 141 and 143, are deposited (step 306).

In certain implementations, the LBL assembly can be conducted by exposing a selected charged substrate (e.g., stent) to solutions or suspensions that contain species of alternating net charge, including solutions or suspensions that contain charged templates (e.g., polystyrene spheres), polyelectrolytes, and, optionally, charged therapeutic agents. The concentration of the charged species within these solutions and suspensions, which can be dependent on the types of species being deposited, can range, for example, from about 0.01 mg/mL to about 100 mg/mL (or to about 50 mg/mL, or to about 30 mg/mL). The pH of these suspensions and solutions can be such that the templates, polyelectrolytes, and optional therapeutic agents maintain their charge. Buffer systems can be used to maintain charge. The solutions and suspensions containing the charged species (e.g., solutions/suspensions of templates, polyelectrolytes, or other optional charged species such as charged therapeutic agents) can be applied to the charged substrate surface using a variety of techniques. Examples of techniques include spraying techniques, dipping techniques, roll and brush coating techniques, techniques involving coating via mechanical suspension such as air suspension, ink jet techniques, spin coating techniques, web coating techniques and combinations of these processes. Layers can be applied over an underlying substrate by immersing the entire substrate (e.g., stent) into a solution or suspension containing the charged species, or by immersing half of the substrate into the solution or suspension, flipping the same, and immersing the other half of the substrate into the solution or suspension to complete the coating. In some implementations, the substrate is rinsed after application of each charged species layer, for example, using a washing solution with a pH that maintains the charge of the outer layer. In others, the substrate can be dried between applications.

The sacrificial template objects include polymeric spheres, silica spheres, nanoparticles, carbon fibers, polymeric fibers, polymer drug conjugates or carbon nanotubes The sacrificial templates described herein can have selected shapes, e.g., shapes of a sphere, a cube, a rod, a fiber, a spindle, a solid layer, or a tube, etc. Sacrificial templates are templates capable of being removed once a desired configuration, often complementary to the shape of the templates, is achieved. In some implementations, the templates are completed removed once the complementary configurations are created. In other implementations, the templates are at least partially maintained in the final product. For example, carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes can be kept within the final configurations as a reinforcing component. In a particular implementation, spherical sacrificial templates, e.g., polystyrene spheres, are used. When polystyrene spheres are applied as templates, a structure with spherical cavities or a hollow structure will be obtained after the polystyrene spheres are removed. In implementations, polystyrene spheres have a diameter of about 10 nm to 10 μm, e.g., about 20 nm to 500 nm. Suitable polystyrene spheres are available from Microparticles GmbH, Research- and Development Laboratory, Volmerstrasse 9A, UTZ, Geb.3.5.1, D-12489 Berlin. Other suitable templates include melamine formaldehyde (MF), poly-DL-lactic acid (PLA), cubic sodium chloride and truncated rhombohedral sugar crystallites. The latter two are as well an example of template shapes that are not round, but in this case have the shape of crystals. Living cells such as red blood cells and bacteria can be used as templates. The template is burned away during a calcination step, similar to the removal of the simple polystyrene templates. Encapsulation of cells is discussed in Yu et al., Biomaterials 25 (2004) 3655-3802. In particular implementations, sacrificial templates can be pretreated with polyelectrolytes via LBL assembly to have a PEM coating. Next, the PEM-coated templates can be suspended or dissolved in a solvent and be applied to a substrate. When PEM-coated templates are used, step 308 is optional. In further implementations, sacrificial templates with different PEM coating and/or different thickness of PEM coating can be applied to a common stent, e.g., to create hollow structures at different portions of the stent with different wall thicknesses so that various drug eluting profiles at different portions of the stent can be achieved.

Polyelectrolyte are polymers having charged (e.g., ionically dissociable) groups. The number of these groups in the polyelectrolytes can be so large that the polymers are soluble in polar solvents (including water) when in ionically dissociated form (also called polyions). Depending on the type of dissociable groups, polyelectrolytes can be classified as polyacids and polybases. When dissociated, polyacids form polyanions, with protons being split off. Polyacids include inorganic, organic and biopolymers. Examples of polyacids are polyphosphoric acids, polyvinylsulfuric acids, polyvinylsulfonic acids, polyvinylphosphonic acids and polyacrylic acids. Examples of the corresponding salts, which are called polysalts, are polyphosphates, polyvinylsulfates, polyvinylsulfonates, polyvinylphosphonates and polyacrylates. Polybases contain groups that are capable of accepting protons, e.g., by reaction with acids, with a salt being formed. Examples of polybases having dissociable groups within their backbone and/or side groups are polyallylamine, polyethylimine, polyvinylamine and polyvinylpyridine. By accepting protons, polybases form polycations. Some polyelectrolytes have both anionic and cationic groups, but nonetheless have a net positive or negative charge.

The polyelectrolytes can include those based on biopolymers. Examples include alginic acid, gum arabicum, nucleic acids, pectins and proteins, chemically modified biopolymers such as carboxymethyl cellulose and lignin sulfonates, and synthetic polymers such as polymethacrylic acid, polyvinylsulfonic acid, polyvinylphosphonic acid and polyethylenimine. Linear or branched polyelectrolytes can be used. Using branched polyelectrolytes can lead to less compact polyelectrolyte multilayers having a higher degree of wall porosity. In some implementations, polyelectrolyte molecules can be cross linked within or/and between the individual layers, to enhance stability, e.g., by cross linking amino groups with aldehydes. Furthermore, amphiphilic polyelectrolytes, e.g., amphiphilic block or random copolymers having partial polyelectrolyte character, can be used in some implementations to affect permeability towards polar small molecules.

Other examples of polyelectrolytes include low-molecular weight polyelectrolytes (e.g., polyelectrolytes having molecular weights of a few hundred Daltons up to macromolecular polyelectrolytes (e.g., polyelectrolytes of synthetic or biological origin, which commonly have molecular weights of several million Daltons). Still other examples of polyelectrolyte cations (polycations) include protamine sulfate polycations, poly(allylamine) polycations (e.g., poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH)), polydiallyldimethylammonium polycations, polyethyleneimine polycations, chitosan polycations, gelatin polycations, spermidine polycations and albumin polycations. Examples of polyelectrolyte anions (polyanions) include poly(styrenesulfonate) polyanions (e.g., poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) (PSS)), polyacrylic acid polyanions, sodium alginate polyanions, eudragit polyanions, gelatin polyanions, hyaluronic acid polyanions, carrageenan polyanions, chondroitin sulfate polyanions, and carboxymethylcellulose polyanions.

Still more examples of polyelectrolytes and LBL assembly are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/985,242, U.S. application publicly available through USPTO Public Pair, and Lefaux et al., “Polyelectolyte Spin Assembly: Influence of Ionic Strength on the Growth of Multilayered Films,” J Polm Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.; 3654-3666, 2004, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

In step 310, a precursor solution for a consequent in situ sol-gel reaction is applied to the stent surface with deposited layers 141, 142, and 143. The solution permeates the polyelectrolyte layers 141 and 143, and those of spheres 142 if they are pretreated with PEM. Then an in situ sol-gel reaction can take place within the interstices of polyelectrolytes.

An exemplary solution is a mixture of ethanol, a precursor (e.g., tetraethylorthosilicate or TEOS, titanium isopropoxide, iridium acetylacetonate, and etc.) with the molar ratio of ethanol to precursor ranging from about 1 to 16, and sometimes a small amount of water. A sol-gel reaction occurs when the precursor comes into contact with water molecules that hydrate or get trapped in the interstices of polyelectrolytes and decomposes to form a gel or a ceramic deposit 144 within the PEMs. Alternatively or additionally, the high charge density of polyelectrolytes attract water molecules out of the precursor solution, and as a result, the local water content increases to such an extent that a sol-gel reaction or hydrolysis takes place and produces a gel or ceramic deposit around the polyelectrolytes, i.e., within the PEMs. For example, when an in situ reaction of a sol-gel solution of TEOS in pure ethanol with 15 wt. % water is carried out, the polyelectrolyte layers attract water because of their ionic charge, and their water content increases above 15 wt. %, thus activating the sol-gel reaction. This method is very controlled and stops automatically once the layers are saturated and charge density decreases. Other precursors can be used for the ceramic materials, e.g. including alkoxx silanes, titanium alkoxides, and iridium dikentonates. Examples of sol-gel process are provided, e.g., in Weber et al., U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/884,471, filed Sep. 14, 2006; Maehara et al., Thin Solid Films 438-39:65-69, 2003; Kim et al., Thin Solid Films 499:83-89, 2003; and Bu et al., J. Europ. Cer. Soc. 25:673-79, 2005.

In step 312, the polyelectrolytes, and templating spheres are removed after the ceramic deposit forms within the PEMs. In some implementations, by applying calcination or pyrolysis processes, the polyelectrolytes and templating spheres can be removed, and the ceramic deposit 144 within the PEMs can be simultaneously transformed into a crystalline or amorphous ceramic coating 145 with a porous structure and hollow ceramic spheres integrated with the coating. In a particular implementation, a coated stent which has been processed through step 310 is air dried and then fired in an oxidizing atmosphere (e.g., 20% O₂ and 80% Ar in volume) to a high temperature (e.g., 300 to 700° C.) to remove all the polymeric and/or organic compounds, including the polystyrene spheres, and to convert the gel into an oxide or ceramic material. The porous structure of the ceramic coating and walls of the hollow ceramic spheres (see, e.g., FIG. 2D) can be predetermined by controlling the selection of polyelectrolytes, pH value, ionic strength, or the removing process conditions. For example, tense porous structure (e.g., smaller pores and low porosity) of the ceramic material forms in acidic conditions while loose porous structure forms in basic conditions. Moreover, since the ceramic deposit forms through out the entire PEMs, and as a consequence, the thickness of the ceramic coating and walls of the hollow spheres are linearly depend upon that of the corresponding PEMs. In other implementations, removing processes utilizing wet etching or UV light exposure are applied. In some implementations, to avoid the use of high temperatures, in step 312, PEMs and/or sacrificial template can be removed by long-term exposure to an agitated aqueous solution with high salt concentrations at room temperature. In yet some other implementations, to avoid the use of high temperatures, in step 312, a non-polyelectrolyte compound, such as nonsurfactants, e.g., glucose, fructose, or urea, can be used to generate the porous ceramic coatings, as disclosed in Zheng et al., J. Sol-Gel Science and Tech. 24:81-88, 2002. Glucose or urea can be removed with use of water at room temperature to leave behind a pure porous ceramic coating. Similar to that of the polyelectrolytes, selection of the non-polyelectrolyte compound can generate materials with different pore sizes, thus allowing generation of a required drug release profile. For example, urea leaves larger pores than glucose. Because many nonsurfactants are biocompatible, they can also be allowed to remain in the sol-gel layer until they bioerode in the body after delivery of the stent. In implementations, templates can be removed by selective etching.

In step 314, in some implementations, a pharmaceutically active agent or drug 146 can be loaded into the cavities of hollow spheres within the ceramic coating. The drug can be loaded by repeated cycles of soaking and drying the ceramic coating. In implementations, conditions may be applied to facilitate drug load, e.g., a supercritical fluid can be applied as a solvent during this process. For example, a drug can be loaded first using a solvent, e.g., a super critical fluid (carbon dioxide with a co-solvent, ethanol, of 10% by weight), which penetrates the walls of the hollow spheres. If the loading process results in drug deposition in both the inside and the outside of the spheres, the drug deposit of the outside can later be removed by rinsing the spheres with a solvent that is unable to penetrate the sphere walls, e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). In other implementations, a drug can be loaded prior to the removal of the polymeric components and templates. In other words, step 314 can precede 312 (e.g., precede 310, 308, 306 or 304), in which case, a low temperature process in step 312 as discussed above is preferred. In particular implementations, a drug-polymer conjugate is applied instead of the drug itself, e.g. a conjugate of a polymer deposited in the LBL steps. In some implementations, the drug can be loaded within the pores of the ceramic coating and the walls of hollow spheres. The stent can further include more than one therapeutic agent by having more than one drug within each hollow element, or by having different drugs in different hollow elements.

The terms “therapeutic agent”, “pharmaceutically active agent”, “pharmaceutically active material”, “pharmaceutically active ingredient”, “drug” and other related terms may be used interchangeably herein and include, but are not limited to, small organic molecules, peptides, oligopeptides, proteins, nucleic acids, oligonucleotides, genetic therapeutic agents, non-genetic therapeutic agents, vectors for delivery of genetic therapeutic agents, cells, and therapeutic agents identified as candidates for vascular treatment regimens, for example, as agents that reduce or inhibit restenosis. By small organic molecule is meant an organic molecule having 50 or fewer carbon atoms, and fewer than 100 non-hydrogen atoms in total.

Exemplary therapeutic agents include, e.g., anti-thrombogenic agents (e.g., heparin); anti-proliferative/anti-mitotic agents (e.g., paclitaxel, 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, vinblastine, vincristine, inhibitors of smooth muscle cell proliferation (e.g., monoclonal antibodies), and thymidine kinase inhibitors); antioxidants; anti-inflammatory agents (e.g., dexamethasone, prednisolone, corticosterone); anesthetic agents (e.g., lidocaine, bupivacaine and ropivacaine); anti-coagulants; antibiotics (e.g., erythromycin, triclosan, cephalosporins, and aminoglycosides); agents that stimulate endothelial cell growth and/or attachment. Therapeutic agents can be nonionic, or they can be anionic and/or cationic in nature. Therapeutic agents can be used singularly, or in combination. Preferred therapeutic agents include inhibitors of restenosis (e.g., paclitaxel), immunosuppressants(e.g., everolimus, tacrolimus, or sirolimus), anti-proliferative agents (e.g., cisplatin), and antibiotics (e.g., erythromycin). Additional examples of therapeutic agents are described in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0216074. Polymers for drug elution coatings are also disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/019265A.

Referring to FIG. 4, an implementation of a PIII processing system is shown. System 80 includes a vacuum chamber 82 having a vacuum port 84 connected to a vacuum pump and a gas source 130 for delivering a gas, e.g., argon, helium, xenon, oxygen, or nitrogen, to chamber 82 to generate a plasma. System 80 includes a series of dielectric windows 86, e.g., made of glass or quartz, sealed by o-rings 90 to maintain a vacuum in chamber 82. Removably attached to some of the windows 86 are radio frequency (“RF”) plasma sources 92, each source having a helical antenna 96 located within a grounded shield 98. The windows without attached RF plasma sources are usable, e.g., as viewing ports into chamber 82. Each antenna 96 electrically communicates with an RF generator 100 through a network 102 and a coupling capacitor 104. Each antenna 96 also electrically communicates with a tuning capacitor 106. Each tuning capacitor 106 is controlled by a signal D, D′, D″ from a controller 110. By adjusting each tuning capacitor 106, the output power from each RF antenna 96 can be adjusted to maintain homogeneity of the generated plasma.

In use, a plasma is generated in chamber 82 and accelerated to a pre-stent 13. Pre-stent 13 can be made, for example, by forming a tube including the conventional metallic material and laser cutting a stent pattern in the tube, or by knitting or weaving a tube from a metallic wire or filament. A gas, such as argon, is introduced from gas source 130 into chamber 82, where a plasma is generated. The charged species in the generated plasma, e.g., an argon plasma, are accelerated toward all portions of pre-stent 13, including exterior 131 and interior portions 132 of the pre-stent, and thus, bombard the surface of the pre-stent. PIII is described by Chu, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,660; Brukner, Surface and Coatings Technology, 103-104, 227-230 (1998); and Kutsenko, Acta Materialia, 52, 4329-4335 (2004), the entire disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein.

The configuration of the porous stent surface formed is controlled in the PIII process by tuning the ion penetration depth and ion concentration through selection of the type of ion, the ion energy and ion dose. For example, when the ions have a relatively low energy, e.g., 10 kiloelectronvolts (“keV”) or less, penetration depth is relatively shallow when compared with the situation when the ions have a relatively high energy, e.g., greater than 40 keV. In some implementations, the potential difference can be greater than 10 kilovolts (“kV”), e.g., greater than 20 kV, greater than 40 kV, greater than 50 kV, greater than 60 kV, greater than 75 kV, or even greater than 100 kV. The ion dosage being applied to a surface can range from about 1×10¹⁴ ions/cm² to about 1×10¹⁹ ions/cm², e.g., from about 1×10¹⁵ ions/cm² to about 1×10¹⁸ ions/cm².

EXAMPLE

In this particular implementation, a 316L stainless steel coupon is treated with Ar⁺ ions having an energy of 35 keV and a dosage of 2.0×10¹⁷ ion/cm² in a PIII setup with following operation parameters: argon gas; base pressure about 2×10⁻⁵ Pa; argon pressure about 0.2 Pa; RF power about 200W with 5 μs pulse; number of pulses: 4×10⁶ pulses; process duration around 2 hours, and substrate temperature 280° C. The ion-bombarded coupon is then coated with four polyelectrolyte layers: PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS, using a first solution of 0.2M PSS salt (NH₃/NH₄Cl buffer of pH 9), and a second solution of 1 mg /mL PAH; 0.2M NaCl; 0.05M sodium acetate buffer solution with pH being 5 to 6, e.g. pH=5.6. Ionic strength can be adjusted with Neal, see Lefaux et al., supra. Each layer is deposited by submerging the sample in the respective solution for 20 minutes, followed by rinsing with water three times before depositing another layer until the layer structure is (PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS/PAH). The coupon was then submerged in a Polystyrene sphere solution, 5 wt %, 500 nm diameter, for an hour and then rinsed 3 times with DI water. Additional PEM layers were added to after the spheres of (PAH/PSS/PAH/PSS). Each layer was deposited over 20 minutes and then rinsed three times with DI water. Subsequently, the PEM-coated coupon is placed into a sol-gel solution of 1 g TEOS in 50 mL ethanol, with 5 mL water and 0.5 mL 25 wt. % NH4OH and kept there for ˜16 hours before it is retrieved. The coupon was rinsed three times in DI water. As a final step, the gel/PEM-coated coupon is placed in a tube furnace and calcined in air at 540° C. for 4.5 hours, ramping up at a rate of 360° C./hour from room temperature, total oven time ˜6 hrs. The sample was allowed to cool in the oven overnight until it reached room temperature. Referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (“FESEM”) images of the surface of a 316L stainless steel coupon processed with the method disclosed in FIG.3 are shown. As shown in FIG. 5A, ceramic spheres are bound to a ceramic coating which almost conformally overlies the porous or corrugated surface of the coupon. Referring to FIG. 5B, a further magnified FESEM image, porous features of the ceramic coating and ceramic spheres are move visible. Referring to FIG. 5C, which was taken at a higher electron accelerating voltage (e.g., 15 kV), the ceramic spheres are hollow.

In further implementations, the hollow elements and/or ceramic coating may incorporate magnetic particles, e.g., nanoparticles, loosely sitting in the cavities by applying sacrificial templates with magnetic kernels which remain in the ceramic material after templating material is removed. The implementations may have one or more additional following advantages, including that the release profile of a therapeutic agent from an endoprosthesis, e.g., a ceramic coated stent, can be controlled through non-invasive means, e.g., a magnetic field. The magnetic field can be used to selectively agitate the particles, to modify the porosity of the ceramic. Use of magnetic particles is described further in U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/845,136, filed Sep. 15, 2006.

In some implementations, after the forming hollow spheres inside of the porous surface generated by e.g. PIII and filling them with a drug, an additional material can be applied to fill the remaining space in the porous surface, for example, a bioerodible polymer (PLGA, PLLA) (with or without an additional drug load), or a highly porous sol-gel layer prepared at low temperature, e.g., at room temperature.

The stents described herein can be configured for vascular, e.g. coronary and peripheral vasculature or non-vascular lumens. For example, they can be configured for use in the esophagus or the prostate. Other lumens include biliary lumens, hepatic lumens, pancreatic lumens, uretheral lumens and ureteral lumens.

Any stent described herein can be dyed or rendered radio-opaque by addition of, e.g., radio-opaque materials such as barium sulfate, platinum or gold, or by coating with a radio-opaque material. In implementations, the porous structure can be formed directly on the stent body, as described above, or the porous structure can be formed in a coating over the stent body. The coating may be, e.g., a radio-opaque metal.

The stent can include (e.g., be manufactured from) metallic materials, such as stainless steel (e.g., 316L, BioDur® 108 (UNS S29108), and 304L stainless steel, and an alloy including stainless steel and 5-60% by weight of one or more radiopaque elements (e.g., Pt, Ir, Au, W) (PERSS®) as described in US-2003-0018380-A1, US-2002-0144757-A1, and US-2003-0077200-A1), Nitinol (a nickel-titanium alloy), cobalt alloys such as Elgiloy, L605 alloys, MP35N, titanium, titanium alloys (e.g., Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-50Ta, Ti-10Ir), platinum, platinum alloys, niobium, niobium alloys (e.g., Nb-1Zr) Co-28Cr-6Mo, tantalum, and tantalum alloys. Other examples of materials are described in commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/672,891, filed Sep. 26, 2003; and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/035,316, filed Jan. 3, 2005. Other materials include elastic biocompatible metal such as a superelastic or pseudo-elastic metal alloy, as described, for example, in Schetsky, L. McDonald, “Shape Memory Alloys”, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (3rd ed.), John Wiley & Sons, 1982, vol. 20. pp. 726-736; and commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/346,487, filed Jan. 17, 2003.

The stent can be of a desired shape and size (e.g., coronary stents, aortic stents, peripheral vascular stents, gastrointestinal stents, urology stents, tracheal/bronchial stents, and neurology stents). Depending on the application, the stent can have a diameter of between, e.g., about 1 mm to about 46 mm. In certain implementations, a coronary stent can have an expanded diameter of from about 2 mm to about 6 mm. In some implementations, a peripheral stent can have an expanded diameter of from about 4 mm to about 24 mm. In certain implementations, a gastrointestinal and/or urology stent can have an expanded diameter of from about 6 mm to about 30 mm. In some implementations, a neurology stent can have an expanded diameter of from about 1 mm to about 12 mm. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) stent and a thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) stent can have a diameter from about 20 mm to about 46 mm. The stent can be balloon-expandable, self-expandable, or a combination of both (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,721).

Medical articles include articles for exterior application to the body such as patches for delivery of therapeutic agent to intact skin and broken skin (including wounds) and implantable or insertable devices, for example, stents (including coronary vascular stents, peripheral vascular stents, cerebral, urethral, ureteral, biliary, tracheal, gastrointestinal and esophageal stents), stent coverings, stent grafts, vascular grafts, abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) devices (e.g., AAA stents, AAA grafts), vascular access ports, dialysis ports, catheters (e.g., urological catheters or vascular catheters such as balloon catheters and various central venous catheters), guide wires, balloons, filters (e.g., vena cava filters and mesh filters for distil protection devices), embolization devices including cerebral aneurysm filler coils (including Guglilmi detachable coils and metal coils), septal defect closure devices, drug depots that are adapted for placement in an artery for treatment of the portion of the artery distal to the device, myocardial plugs, patches, pacemakers, leads including pacemaker leads, defibrillation leads, and coils, ventricular assist devices including left ventricular assist hearts and pumps, total artificial hearts, shunts, valves including heart valves and vascular valves, anastomosis clips and rings, cochlear implants, tissue bulking devices, and tissue engineering scaffolds for cartilage, bone, skin and other in vivo tissue regeneration, sutures, suture anchors, tissue staples and ligating clips at surgical sites, cannulae, metal wire ligatures, urethral slings, hernia “meshes”, artificial ligaments, orthopedic prosthesis such as bone grafts, bone plates, fins and fusion devices, joint prostheses, orthopedic fixation devices such as interference screws in the ankle, knee, and hand areas, tacks for ligament attachment and meniscal repair, rods and pins for fracture fixation, screws and plates for craniomaxillofacial repair, dental implants, or other devices that are implanted or inserted into the body.

All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Still further implementations are in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An endoprosthesis, comprising: a surface, the surface comprising a surface porous structure of a first material, the surface porous structure defining pores and being corrugated; a coating of a second material on the surface porous structure; and a plurality of hollow elements, at least some of the hollow elements being formed in one or more of the pores of the surface porous structure, and at least some of the hollow elements each comprising a wall formed of the second material and comprising a portion of a continuous part of the coating, the wall defining an interior space, the interior space containing a therapeutic agent.
 2. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the first material comprises a metal.
 3. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the second material comprises a ceramic material.
 4. The endoprosthesis of claim 3, wherein the ceramic material comprises silicon oxide, titanium oxide, iridium oxide or a mixture thereof.
 5. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the wall defining the interior space comprises a wall porous structure.
 6. The endoprosthesis of claim 5, wherein the wall porous structure defines a plurality of pores each having a width of about 0.5 nm to about 500 nm.
 7. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the pores of the surface porous structure have a width and a depth of about 1 nm to about 25 μm.
 8. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the hollow elements are hollow spheres.
 9. The endoprosthesis of claim 8, wherein the hollow spheres have an outer diameter of about 10 nm to about 5 μm.
 10. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the coating of the second material has a thickness of about 1 nm to about 1 μm.
 11. The endoprosthesis of claim 1, wherein the endoprosthesis has a body formed of the first material.
 12. The endoprosthesis of claim 5, wherein the wall porous structure comprises interconnected pores defining passageways in communication between interior and exterior of the hollow elements. 